Queer Writing for a Queer World
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Max notices Min’s wispy teen moustache and suggests it is time to start shaving. Min is nervous, but Max is on hand to show him what to do, and the brothers share an intimate moment. Back in bed, they talk about the strange atmosphere surrounding their parents. They suspect something is wrong but don’t know what it is.
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Seasons greetings to all, and thank you for visiting and reading Screeve. It has been an absolute pleasure to start writing again, and what I thought would be a short series of a few instalments has grown to 25. I love Max and Min, and their open and honest relationship is something I wish I’d had with my brother. But I can now experience that relationship through my stories.
Once I finish “Conversations with my Brother” I hope to finish the follow-up to the novel “Becoming Kes” in the Cockaigne Chronicles universe.
Next year is going to be difficult for all of us. The economic problems don’t appear to be going away soon, and we are heading to a severe downturn in the UK. Food bank use is increasing, and energy rationing is common for almost every household. I hope my stories will provide some release and an escape from reality, no matter how brief.
I wish all my readers the best and hope you get what you wish. And a huge thank you to those who rate and comment on the stories. All feedback is appreciated.
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Min sets his plan in motion and orchestrates a meeting with James and his parents. Max is glad it worked out, and there’s no longer any awkwardness between them. Max and James join Min and his friends to celebrate turning thirteen. They both have a brilliant time, and the brothers end the day the only way teenagers know how.
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Max has come out at school and to his friends, and when he gets home in the early evening, he rushes straight to bed. Finn follows. He wonders what is wrong, and the two brothers talk. But when Finn is called down by his mother, he unwittingly makes her laugh.
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Now Max is out to his parents, and they want to meet his boyfriend and ensure they aren’t doing anything inappropriate. But while Min tells Max of his birthday plans, Max tells Min of their parents’ strange plan of how to meet James. They seem to be overboard in showing how accepting they are of Max’s new relationship.
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When Max comes home after spending time with James and the rest of the rugby team, he gets given a hard time by his parents. They argue as they become more protective of their eldest son. Max doesn’t understand why he is now being treated differently and he talks to Min in their darkened bedroom to make sense of it.
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It has been an emotional day. Max and James’ parents know they are gay and are boyfriends. Min supports Max and shows their parents how much they love each other, no matter what. But James wants to move faster than Max.
The story of Max and Min is one which I am enjoying writing. I enjoy the love between the brothers and how Max overcomes his body image issues. Some stories make me think about my life and can depress me, but this story makes me feel elated. It is not a difficult story to write; some can be. I am writing it for how it makes me feel. I hope my readers feel the same positivity I feel as I write it. I find the platonic love between the brothers very powerful.
I had a comment wondering what Max looked like, I was going to reply and include a picture, but then I found out you can’t put pictures in comments. (A good thing I suppose.) So I spent this morning looking for a picture that mostly represented Max, and after trawling through the stock image sites and rejecting loads, as soon as this image appeared I just knew it was Max. This young man is the closest you can get to Max without me using a police sketch artist.
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After winning their rugby match, Max and James feel great and have a wonderful time at the clubhouse with their brothers, but people have picked up on the clues that imply that they are more than friends. James tells Max that he is going to have to tell his parents about them. This forces Max to realise it is now time to come out to his parents.
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Max shows up after Min has finished his gymnastics practice for the first session in teching Max to do a backflip. They make progress but you can’t expect to suceed after an hour. The brothers make further progress when they shower together afterwards. The brothers are becoming truly comfortable being naked around each other. During their nightly conversation, Min works out that Max has gone further with James than he expected.
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Max and Min’s close relationship starts to show outside the bedroom much to their parent’s surprise. Back in the bedroom Max admits to Min that he is gay and in love with James. Max’s new found confidence means that he and Min will be doing more things together.